⁶ Look, I know you are depending^(A) on Egypt,^(B) that splintered reed^(C) of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. ⁷ But if you say to me, “We are depending^(D) on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed,^(E) saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar”?^(F)

⁸ “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses^(G)—if you can put riders on them!